Lay down the butcher's knife and immediately become a Buddha

"Benefactor Chen! Watch out!"

Just as the words fell, Master Jiande moved his feet. His hands spread like a giant roc opening its wings, his torso twisted, and he forcefully stepped forward before delivering a sudden, unheralded kick straight toward Chen Jue's groin.

This was the "Bright Wings Posture" from the Xinyiba style. It appeared to be a hand strike designed to mislead the opponent, but it was actually a deceptive kick to the groin intended to catch the adversary off guard. The technique was vicious and ruthless.

Chen Jue had seen similar Xinyiba routines in online videos and was already prepared for this sudden shift. Furthermore, since this bout was merely a friendly spar, Master Jiande had held back his full strength. Seeing this, Chen Jue decided to use this opportunity to guide his opponent and also exerted only ten percent of his power.

Chen Jue hooked his front foot outward, deflecting the incoming kick with a sharp thud. Then, instantly transforming his relaxed "Lazy Tying Coat" posture from yielding to unyielding, he lashed out with a Tai Chi whip hand, striking straight toward his opponent's head with a sound that cracked sharply in the air.

Realizing his Bright Wings kick had missed, Master Jiande pivoted slightly and crossed his hands in front of his chest. With a heavy thunk, he blocked Chen Jue's single Tai Chi whip. Immediately dropping into a half-crouch, he spun around, transformed his palms into fists, and whipped them backward. He looked as though he were squatting while swinging two heavy iron hammers directly toward Chen Jue's ribs and waist.

Seeing this, Chen Jue stepped back, his figure fluttering up and down like a butterfly weaving through flowers, easily evading the reverse-cleaving hammer strike of the Xinyiba style.

With his hammer strike missing its mark, Master Jiande shifted his chicken-step stance. Resembling a golden rooster standing on one leg in a half-crouched posture with his fists level with his knees, he lunged forward to strike again. Every single blow targeted the opponent's vital soft spots, waist, abdomen, and groin.

The reputation of Xinyiba being the most ruthless and vicious martial art was not empty exaggeration; every posture and movement truly concealed a murderous and fierce intent.

Much like the agricultural movements of harvesting wheat and prying with hoes practiced daily in the synthesis of farming and martial arts, the practitioner had to crouch in a half-bend. Without bending the waist, one could neither harvest wheat in the fields nor use a hoe to break open the soil.

Just like farmers facing the yellow earth and backing the sky, one had to bend the waist and bow the body to unearth grain from the earth.

Yet, the sickles and hoes in the hands of those farmers transformed when integrated into martial arts: the sickle no longer cut wheat but human legs, and the hoe no longer broke soil but human knees and groins.

Traditional martial arts and combat techniques generally targeted the upper body, using stances and horse stances to plant the lower body as a foundation.

The firmer the lower stance, the harder it was for a person to be knocked down.

However, the wheat-harvesting and hoe-prying postures of Xinyiba did the exact opposite, specifically targeting the opponent's foundation and attacking the lower body in every move, living up to its terrifying reputation as the most ruthless and vicious style.

Seeing this, Chen Jue knew Master Jiande still had several interlocking follow-up techniques ready, and he had no desire to become overly entangled.

Since his opponent wished to experience firsthand what the Realm of Tathagata felt like, Chen Jue met force with force. His stance suddenly shifted, his chest puffed with air, and his entire body trembled. A dense, dark blue hue spread across his skin, and in an instant, his physique seemed to swell up by a circle. Dropping into a crouch, he countered Master Jiande's advancing cleaving hammer strike head-on with the "Brush Knee and Twist Step" posture from Tai Chi.

With a resounding crash—like a heavy drum being struck atop the jutting cliffside—their arms collided in the lower stance. In that split second, the sleeves of both men tore apart simultaneously, shredded into countless fluttering fabric strips.

Master Jiande let out a sudden gasp of surprise. He had never expected that the leg-sweeping movement of Tai Chi's "Brush Knee and Twist Step" could be altered to sweep with the hand instead.

The overt and covert kinetic energy transmitted from Chen Jue's hands shattered his wheat-harvesting posture instantly, forcing him to stumble backward several steps to dissipate the residual force. Ultimately, his trailing foot stepped onto empty air right at the edge of the protruding cliff.

At that very moment, Master Jiande finally understood what the Realm of Tathagata truly meant.

He did not strike unless necessary, but once he did, it was enough to dispel all evil forces. Even he, a high-ranking Buddhist monk standing at the half-step threshold of condensing a sarira, could not withstand that wave of kinetic energy, causing him to step into empty air and plummet off the cliff.

Yet, right at this juncture of life and death, Master Jiande suddenly felt his shoulder tighten as a pair of hands yanked his body forcefully back onto the protruding rock.

Regaining his wits, he looked up to see Chen Jue smiling warmly and asking, "Master Jiande, are you all right?"

They say there is supreme terror between life and death. Having walked through the gates of the netherworld, Master Jiande seemed to have attained some profound realization in that brief instant. He chanted a Buddhist mantra, crossed his legs, and instantly entered a state of meditative absorption.

Meanwhile, Chen Jue’s expression shifted slightly as he used his Connection with Heaven and Earth to observe the changes in Master Jiande’s temperament.

Master Jiande, who had not yet truly condensed a sarira, experienced a spiritual sublimation stimulated by that brush with death. Chanting Sanskrit mantras aloud, he intoned, "All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows... If you see all forms as non-forms, you see the Tathagata..."

"Good grief!"

"Was the master actually enlightened by my stimulation?" This was Chen Jue’s first time encountering someone achieving sudden enlightenment in front of him. He quickly steadied his breath and mind, using his spiritual awareness to observe Master Jiande's transformation.

The master's previously rosy complexion began to recede into a pale calm, and the Qi and blood within his body retracted inward toward the Shangqu acupuncture point. He entered the state of "colorless, formless, and tastelessness" that high-ranking Buddhist monks dream of.

The "sincerity" of his devout Buddhist practice reached an ultimate peak at this moment, resembling the descent of a true Buddha. His temperament became smooth and translucent, completely washing away the vicious and baleful Qi inherent in the Xinyiba art.

In Buddhist practice, this was known as "laying down the butcher's knife and instantly becoming a Buddha." Because Master Jiande had engaged in a sparring session with Chen Jue, experienced the Realm of Tathagata with his physical body, and comprehended the terrifying truth of life and death at the instant of falling off the cliff, all these factors converged, allowing him to take this massive leap forward in his cultivation.

...

Remaining on the cliff for nearly four hours, Chen Jue acted like a guardian of the path, protecting Master Jiande through his metamorphosis.

It was not until the sun began to sink westward that Master Jiande finally stopped chanting, his lips chapped and peeling. Opening his eyes wide, he uttered a loud chant of "Amitabha," stood up from his meditation, and bowed deeply to Chen Jue. "Thank you, Benefactor Chen, for assisting this poor monk in attaining the Way and condensing a sarira! This profound kindness, this poor monk will engrave in his heart forever!"

"You are too kind, Master! With your mastery of Buddhist principles and your path of unifying Zen and martial arts, you were bound to become a Buddha eventually; I merely gave you a helping hand by coincidence," Chen Jue replied with a slight smile. He felt his trip to Shaolin had certainly not been in vain, having actually helped a high-ranking Buddhist monk achieve instant enlightenment.

"Amitabha! This poor monk only gained some insight during that sudden realization between life and death; at best, it can only be considered attaining the fruit of an Arhat, still far from becoming a Buddha."

"On the other hand, Benefactor Chen, though your physical body has reached the Realm of Tathagata, your mind and temperament remain unsettled."

"Since Benefactor Chen helped me condense a sarira, today this poor monk shall repay a portion of that kindness by using Buddhist principles and Zen philosophy to enlighten your mind, hoping you may reap some harvest from them," Master Jiande said, pressing his palms together.

"Then I shall thank you in advance, Master!" Chen Jue nodded, perceiving the genuine sincerity that a true ascetic should possess.

Master Jiande pressed his palms together in a bow once more, led Chen Jue down from the cliff, and returned to the stone temple.

The stone temple contained only a few simple dwellings. Master Jiande led Chen Jue into his personal quarters.

The room's furnishings were sparse: a lacquered wooden bed, a few bookshelves holding Buddhist scriptures, two straw meditation cushions, a small shrine, a dining table, and a few neatly folded sets of monk robes.

Upon entering, Master Jiande poured himself a cup of plain water to moisten his parched, blistered lips. Then, he lit sandalwood incense within the room, retrieved a bronze singing bowl from the shrine, and struck it gently.

A resonant, bell-like chime echoed instantly through the room, profound and awakening to the soul.

"Benefactor Chen, please take a seat!"

"After you, Master!"

The two sat cross-legged opposite each other on the straw cushions, beginning to converse on Buddhist principles, Zen philosophy, and various aspects of spiritual cultivation.

They did not pause their discourse on Chan and the Dao until night fell and disciples waiting outside urged them repeatedly to partake in the evening meal.

...

After partaking in the simple vegetarian meal brought by Master Jiande's disciple, the two resumed their dialogue until the moon hung high in the center of the sky. Only then did Chen Jue hoist his backpack and descend the back mountain of the Shaolin Temple.

Of course, the reason he did not stay the night was because Master Jiande had just condensed his sarira and required a hundred-day foundation-building period to nurture that "sarira pearl" before his merit could be considered complete.

Delaying him for half a day was already exceptional, and since Chen Jue had also gained considerable insights from their previous discourse on Zen, his thoughts flowed freely and he bid farewell to Master Jiande.

Delivering the guaranteed second update of the day~

This chapter's plot is a bit dramatic. I originally wanted to split it across several chapters, but writing about Buddhist elements felt a bit too dry and lacked fluidity, so I compressed it to push through quickly. I hope everyone won't complain too much (covering face).

Going to take a shower and continue updating tonight.